Arizona Republicans, Others Sound Off on $40 Billion Ukraine Deal

Peter D'Abrosca

The few dissenters from the U.S. House of Representatives who opposed a bill sending $40 billion to Ukraine while inflation crushes Americans are expressing their displeasure over the bill’s passage.

“Biden wants to send FORTY BILLION that has been taken from taxpayers to Ukraine while our borders remain wide open with historic crossings. This Regime prioritizes every other country before it even thinks about our own – this is the definition of America Last. I VOTE NO!” said Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04), who was one of 57 Republicans to vote against the spending package.

He was joined by his Arizonan colleagues Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05).

“Last night, my congressional colleagues in the House voted to send $40B to Ukraine but still haven’t provided anything close to this amount for our own border security. We cannot put the interests of other countries before our own,” Biggs said.

How the funds will be used by Ukraine, which has been under siege by Russia for three months, remains largely unclear. According to some reports, at least $20 billion of it will be allocated for “weapons and security assistance.”

A large delegation from Tennessee also voted “Nay” on the bill.

“$40 Billion to Ukraine and we can’t get baby formula? It’s time for Europe to step up,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) said, referencing a baby formula shortage that is roiling the country.

Reps. John Rose (R-TN-06), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04), and Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) also voted against the bill.

“I support our efforts to assist Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty from Russian aggression; however, the folks of Middle Tennessee that sent me to Washington [entrusted me] to ensure their tax dollars are being spent wisely,” Rose said in a statement. “After President Biden’s disastrous and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal, I have no confidence in the Biden Administration’s ability to tactically disperse $40 billion in aid to Ukraine that we don’t even have an answer for how we’ll pay for it. Members should be allowed more time to ensure the Biden Administration is being held accountable and that proper legislative oversight has occurred before passing a bill that costs more than the entire annual budget of the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Six Republicans from Florida voted against the aid package, too.

Among them was Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01), who warned not just of the economic effects of the bill, but also that America is coming dangerously close to war with Russia.

“Just a year ago, we lost a war against goat herders waving rifles. Members of Congress are now recklessly asserting that we are at war with Russia,” he said. “If we are at war, then why not vote on an [Authorization for Use of Military Force]? We are sleepwalking into a war, and the American people are left in the dark.”

Citing the fact that Congress was given only hours to read the text of the bill, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL-17) said he voted against it.

Georgia’s most outspoken member of Congress also voted against the bill.

“I voted NO to send $40 Billion American tax dollars to Ukraine. That bill does things we should not be doing. Americans are suffering from a baby formula crisis, a border crisis, skyrocketing inflation and fuel crisis, and they are fed up with America last politicians,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14)

She was joined by Reps. Jody Hice (R-GA-10) and Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09).

Other prominent members of Congress who voted against the bill include Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) and Rep. Bob Good (R-VA-05).

The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate, where it has bipartisan support.

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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at the Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Andy Biggs” and “Paul Gosar” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

 

 

 

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